Whitehall Jewellers Inc., the parent company for 262 U.S. jewelry stores, announced a 41.6% increase in sales during its first fiscal quarter compared to the first quarter in 1998. Sales for the period, which ended April 30, reached $58.9 million. Comparable store sales rose 12.3% over 1998.

Income from the Jewel Box stores, which Whitehall purchased in September 1998, contributed only slightly more than 1% of comparable store sales, according to Whitehall Chairman and CEO Hugh Patinkin. Whitehall opened 13 new stores during the first fiscal quarter, many of them ahead of schedule.